The Atascadero Unified School District is continuing its search for a new superintendent. Assistant Superintendent of Educational Services, E.J. Rossi was the school board’s top pick for superintendent up until Tuesday night. Due to concerns voiced by some people in the community, the board voted to not move forward with offering Rossi the position.
"I was disappointed," Rossi expressed. "I truly love Atascadero Unified School District and the community of Atascadero.”
Rossi plans to stay in his current position with the school district.
Rossi was named in a 2009 SLO County Grand Jury report, accusing him of misuse of funds while serving as superintendent in Monterey County. Rossi says the allegations against him were false.
“It was never misuse of funds or misappropriation of funds," Rossi said. "It was alleged over payment. And so, for the next two and a half years, I spent successfully refuting those false allegations of over payment.”
Rossi also says both he and the San Ardo Unified School District agreed to a settlement to end all future claims and there was never an admission of guilt.
While serving as principal at Atascadero High School in 2009, there were also accusations made by citizens found in the grand jury report involving missing funds. Rossi says he wasn’t involved, but was a messenger.
“I was made aware of some potentially inappropriate fundraising practices while I was the high school principal," Rossi said. "And so I took that information and forwarded that to our Director of Fiscal Services, who worked on correcting that matter.”
With the search moving forward for Atascadero Unified’s next superintendent, parents say they’d like a new leader to have certain qualities.
“I think I'd like to see a superintendent that is maybe education-based and also has experience in childhood education, leading childhood education," parent Trevor Fry said. "Also understanding that rigid and strict classrooms often don't work for a lot of kids.”
I reached out to the school district to find out how much money was allocated for the superintendent search but have not received a response.
According to the school district's acting board president, Densie McGrew-Kane, the school board still anticipates having a new superintendent by July 1 with the hope of bringing forward a new person for the job sometime next month.
